The year is 2028, the Los Angeles facsimile that is Los Sueños is on fire, there are riots in the streets, and the city government has become overly militarized. A bit like normal Los Angeles, but with people actually doing something about it. The third DLC of VOID Interactive’s SWAT FPS with a difference steps a bit further once again into the future and uses extremes such as bioterrorism, riots, and a city under siege from its own discontented citizens. Similar to the previous additions, the “Boiling Point” DLC offers three new missions to take both Blue and Red teams into danger.

The first mission is at the pier. Much like the photocopy of the city, this one is a replica (in premise) of the world-famous Santa Monica Pier. The second is a terrorist attack on the city bank, ruined by riots, and is used as cover for the true assault by the DLC’s story antagonists. The third and final offering is the top floors of the Los Sueños City Hall. It is yet another terror attack with the intent to capture and kill the Mayor, but also blow up half the city, like the lead antagonist’s name is Jack Napier.

You know, low-stakes stuff as usual. For those oblivious to expressions, that’s sarcasm; as the title very much suggests, the city has come to a boiling point, and your good old friends at the USIA and FISA are at the center. All three levels added this time out are entirely connected to some degree, unlike “Dark Waters,” “Home Invasion,” and even “Los Sueños Stories.” The through line is terrorism, and the people behind the acts have a singular, long-standing motivation. That being one of the things lacking, I thought, in prior offerings – feeling disconnected and as if there was still more to be done.

As a DLC, technically, there is less overall added than the prior two, as the new weapons and equipment additions are part of the general free update alongside the launch of “Boiling Point.” However, I can’t just move on without acknowledging the fantastic addition of 9-bangs from that update. Maybe your AI officers in singleplayer could throw them a little better, and, as a matter of fact, so could I, but tossing that in and clearing a room helps a lot, no matter the level. The update also added canted ironsights – less of a godsend, but still appreciated.

The first of the new levels is called “No Good Deed,” in which it seems someone is trying to punish the city, maybe even David ‘Judge’ Beaumont, for the failings of the city overall. A mass shooting incident at the Blackwood Pier leaves civilians running in terror through and around the intricate and tight walkways between amusements, shops, and staff areas. This includes a very dark, horror-themed funhouse with implied jump scares, ferris wheel, bumper cars, and an arcade. The latter of which it seems is the staging area for the first of the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) incidents.

Best of all? Some of the shooters are dressed like you, some are not. A targeted attack to simply cause chaos, confusion, and discontent with the city, with the government, LSPD, and with each other. To quote Ted Lasso at the most inappropriate of times, “Kinda like America these days.” That’s the crux of this DLC. While “Lawmaker” from “Home Invasion” and “Leviathan” from “Dark Waters” had an eco-terrorism storyline, “Boiling Point” is the downfall of old America (the US).

I don’t dislike “No Good Deed” as a level, but it takes a couple of runs before you can really get it. Similar to the likes of “Ides of March,” you’re going off a map for using the area, not one that gives you details on where to go, what to do, and so on. However, to use another base game comparison, you also need to be quick, similar to “Elephant,” because of the CBRN element. The trouble there is, you have 5 officers (including yourself) and a whole lot of areas that create a fatal funnel situation.

There is a lot of backtracking through bottlenecks without the support of breaking the element up so that you can clear in sections. In multiplayer and with the mod that allows you up to 16 players in one session, “No Good Deed” is probably so much easier. The trouble there, of course, is that not everyone has that experience to hand, and I can’t review it with that mindset.

The bank level, “All Gods Burn,” is presumably titled for America’s obsession with wealth and the terrorist groups’ desire to do away with that mindset; Hebrews 12:28 and 29. Using the riots as a result of the LSPD’s continued use of force and increased militarization throughout the city, the terror cell has taken to planting explosives in the vault of the bank with the intent to send a message. Arguably, it is the smallest of the levels, but that’s maybe because I walked around for far too long the first time looking for a way to end the level.

I say “the terror cell,” but this one is the Black Sentinel faction that we first met back in “3 Letter Triad” from “Dark Waters.” I don’t know that I’ve seen anyone make this connection yet, though once you play it, I’d argue it’s obvious; they are more or less used by the entity only mentioned in Black Sentinel’s previous outing. The very entity that’s the overarching antagonist group this time out.

So, the same group with a clearer motivation, now that you know who they are, and it is generally a bit easier to discern who is and isn’t an active threat. It seems everyone in Los Sueños wears a colorful neon t-shirt and the same type of beanie during riots, though. If you can wrap this one up in about 8-12 minutes, it isn’t so much of a bother. However, you have caches of weapons stashed throughout the bank that you have to secure, and because it is a bank under siege, there is an alarm going out constantly.

Between those bags towards the end of the level and trying to secure the first floor (at the start) before clearing the overlooking balcony and the vault is that tricky balance. In theory, not a bad level from a design perspective, but little things in this one make it more annoying than it should be. “All Gods Burn” is one that’s easy to get frustrated with because of the soft objectives rather than anything else. Once you’ve played it a couple of times, knowing where bags and laptops are, it becomes dramatically less annoying as a level.

That leaves “A New America” – I told you they wanted to rebuild in the chaos. The face of the Mariposa Lily Organization has come into the light, albeit with a shroud over everyone’s face and a flamboyant mask over the lead’s, and has revealed they plan to blow up City Hall and half of Los Sueños itself. I think Hondo dealt with that in season 4 or 5. It is effectively a race against the clock to clear four floors of whores as they have deployed possible CBRNs around the building, the Mayor is a hostage, and the aforementioned blowing up half the city to build a new America.

A dark, shadowy group with similar connections to their Black Sentinel allies. The Mariposa Lily Organization is highly trained, highly armed, and well-equipped people with desires to make a large-scale change for the sake of a “higher power” sort of mindset.

Again, “A New America” isn’t one I’m jumping for joy at, as I do with “Lawmaker”. However, of the three from the “Boiling Point” DLC, I’m leaning towards it for its complexities and overall design. There is an emphasis on speed and accuracy, but also being deliberate with your actions. Of course, there are elements of that in every level throughout Ready or Not, both in the base game and the DLCs, but here, there is a good balance without it feeling too arcadey or overly difficult for the sake of it.

There is enough in the story pushing you forward, but also the actual design of the map itself is done just so that you can flow through it while also taking your time. Very much the CQB ground rule: Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. Be deliberate with your actions and commands, but do so at a pace that’s saving lives.

However, for as much as I think the story elements are pushing you forward in “A New America,” the overall character writing for “Boiling Point” isn’t quite my thing. Without trying to get too into spoilers, a lot of this DLC is high stakes, big scale, and major catastrophe around every corner. I’m not saying you can’t do that, but for the size of these DLCs (3 missions apiece) and the amount of ground they have to cover, “Boiling Point” in premise sounds high-concept but is a lot more detailed than that.

The Mariposa Lily Organization is (as I said earlier) a group founded on this idealistic “we can rebuild it, we have the technology, greater power” sort of mindset. For me, those stories and characters typically need more time to really become more than characterized by – to borrow from Benjamin Disraeli – their inebriation with the exuberance of their own verbosity; i.e, big, fancy words to sell the revolution. Between that and the bits of story where you’re not really playing, outside of the briefings, that story doesn’t exactly grab me.

Speaking of briefings, they are taking heavy lifting this DLC, too. Typically, they are 3-minute rundowns of suspects, location descriptions, background on the area, motivations, highlighting objectives, and filling out the world. However, for “A New America,” you’re looking at about 7 minutes total for your briefing on a mission that’s already got a ticking clock on it. Between the lengthy briefing and the sermon on the mount through your radio during the final mission, it would be easy to say someone is putting their creative writing course to good use.

Like most of these DLCs, this is one that you’re only going to get the most out of with repeated play. Of the three missions added, the weakest of those seems to be “All Gods Burn,” which is also arguably the one you need to really learn to properly complete. As a climax to the DLC, blowing up everything with psychopaths is an almighty high point, but I think the Mariposa Lily Organization needs to be fleshed out more before I think any higher of their influence as an antagonist faction.

Overall, if you’re going to drill the “Boiling Point” missions like a kill house, you are going to get more than your $10 value out of it and enjoy the challenges it poses. However, beyond some cosmetics that I still fail to see value in, that’s it. There are plenty of gameplay challenges and lots of plot to dig through, but for me, it is where they meet in the middle that isn’t entirely clicking, despite ultimately enjoying Ready or Not’s “Boiling Point” DLC.

A PC review copy of Ready or Not: Boiling Point was provided by VOID Interactive for this review.

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Ready or Not: Boiling Point

$9.99

7.5

Score

7.5/10

Pros

• The scale and design of "A New America."
• A good high-concept plot overall.

Cons

• Clearing soft objectives in "All Gods Burn" can be difficult for more than just player skill.
• Some of the character writing isn't quite grabbing me.